Manufacturers told The Daily Telegraph they are in negotiations to sell the collection in Harrods, John Lewis and Selfridges.

The 400-year-old Bodleian Library gives its name to a £3,800 bookcase while John Radcliffe, physician to William III, is commemorated with a £1,700 red leather writing desk.

A £2,650 refectory table in the range, called The Oxford Collection, is described as a “Harry Potter-style dining table”.

Many of the scenes set in the Great Hall of Hogwarts in the blockbuster wizarding franchise were filmed in Christ Church’s dining hall.

Halo Licensing, the Hong Kong-based company that bought the rights to manufacture the furniture, also produces branded products for Kelly Hoppen, the interior designer, and Esquire, the men’s magazine.

Serge Gander, its managing director, said: “It is inspired by 800 years of history and archives…The bookcase was inspired by a doorway. The sofa was a reproduction of one I found in a senior common room.

“We have an amazing coffee table inspired by the ceilings of the colleges and a rug inspired by the floor of Christ Church.

“We want to introduce the brand as a home and lifestyle brand. The possibilities are endless.”

But the university’s academics are sceptical.

Peter Oppenheimer, an emeritus professor at Christ Church, said: “Words fail me. It is vulgar, inappropriate and unauthorised by the university at large.

“This does absolutely nothing for the university other than cheapen its image.”

Prof Oppenheimer is unlikely to be won over by the promotional material, which misspells his college as “Christchurch”.

The range includes a £2,700 “senior common room” sofa and a £780 “tutor’s chair”, replete with university crest.

Prof Oppenheimer said: “There’s no such thing as a tutor’s chair – tutors sit in whatever chairs happen to be available.”

Diane Purkiss, an English tutor at Keble College, added: “My own chair is an ergonomic swivel chair, I’m afraid, as I often teach for eight hours at a stretch.

“We are perhaps the most famous and prestigious university brand name in the world [but] I think it might be time for a note of caution to be sounded about selling that brand too freely and too meretriciously.”

But Dr Purkiss said that dons will be more sympathetic to the range if it makes money to plough back into bursaries and teaching.

Mr Gander believes the range will sell particularly well in China.

“New China loves the old world and something that is really, really authentic,” he said.

The licensing deal was negotiated by Oxford Limited, the wholly-owned university subsidiary that manages its logo and rights.

The firm produced a 48-page “styleguide” to entice companies to manufacture Oxford-branded products.

The guide, seen by The Daily Telegraph, says that the Oxford “brand lends itself naturally to high-quality products which can be effortlessly positioned in a premium price bracket.”

It lists “reference brands” for the university, including the clothing company Abercrombie and Fitch, Farrow and Ball paint, Paul Smith and The Sims computer game.

Oxford Limited has also licensed its brand to companies based in Brazil, Spain and the Middle East.

Bradford License in India, which makes Dancing with the Stars and Teletubbies merchandise, hopes to produce Oxford-branded linen.

Its marketing material states: “Through its evolution into an inspiration value a lifestyle has been born. The University of Oxford enjoys very high, prestigious and respectful levels for both its name, its function and position as a world class university.”

A university spokesman said: “We work with members of the university and individual colleges to ensure that only product categories that can be demonstrated to be relevant to the university, its history or accomplishments are licensed and the sale of each licensed product generates a royalty for the university."